The number of LA Unified employees has increased even as enrollment continues to decline, according to district figures compiled this month for the new school year but not yet posted. This is in direct defiance of the strong recommendation by an Independent Financial Review Panel that urged a reduction of about 10,000 staff members, including...

This is the third article in a series produced in collaboration with The Guardian examining the climate affecting immigrant school children and their parents as the new school year begins. See a version of this article at TheGuardian.com. Gathered around a camera in their family’s kitchen, the four Duarte children pleaded for help. When their undocumented...

This is the second article in a series produced in collaboration with The Guardian examining the climate affecting immigrant school children and their parents as the new school year begins. See a version of this article at TheGuardian.com. One student exchanged hand gestures with a classmate in the school hallway. Another drew graffiti in his...

There are sanctuary cities, sanctuary states, and school district safe zones. Now a group of Los Angeles public schools and community organizations have created a Sanctuary Schools coalition that guarantees protections for undocumented students and their families through formal school policies. The new group, California Schools Are Sanctuaries (CASAS), is the first of its kind...

This is the first article in a series produced in collaboration with The Guardian examining the climate affecting immigrant schoolchildren and their parents as the new school year begins. See a version of this article at TheGuardian.com. If federal immigration agents come knocking, don’t open the door. You have the right to plead the Fifth Amendment and...

How can LA Unified keep itself solvent? Add four more kids to every classroom and take back any money that principals don’t spend at the end of the year. Those were two of the proposals that board members heard Tuesday during an update that announced new hits to the budget since board members approved it...

Don’t open the door. Know your rights. Make an emergency plan for when a family member is detained. LA Unified wants you to know that it “stands with immigrant families.” The new school year started Tuesday with big banners with the image of the Statue of Liberty and the “We Are One LA Unified” campaign’s...

*UPDATED A battle over a state-run public STEM school proposed for Los Angeles is heating up with two votes scheduled for Tuesday. Two members of the LA County Board of Supervisors support the school, while two LA Unified school board members say LA is “already addressing the need for STEM education.” Legislation to establish the...

Officers from the Los Angeles school police and California Highway Patrol are coming to Dorsey High School on Saturday to help students raise money for a trip to the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. “In light of the Charlottesville tragedy, this event will shine the light on hope not...

*UPDATED Taking on President Donald Trump and his proposal to cut funding for after-school programs, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson denounced the cuts Thursday in Los Angeles and encouraged students to write letters to their representatives in Congress describing how these programs have benefited them. Torlakson spoke to students and district leaders, including...